The "Why don't you go to Med School" Question

Nursing Students Male Students

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If I had a dime for every time I've heard this question, from individuals in and out of the healthcare field. Just because I'm male and a minority doesn't mean I cannot be a nurse. I do not care whether or not I'll be "taking orders" from doctors, at the end of the day its the patient that matters most otherwise I wouldn't be pursuing Nursing. To answer all those questions to " why don't you be a doctor?", my answer is no! I want to be a nurse, not an optometrist, OT, but a Nurse! And yes I've considered the M.D. pathway before and always came back to Nursing. Nursing is my calling, my passion, it runs through my veins..one day I hope and pray that I'll make an excellent nurse.

Nursing school is a very singular experience. I wouldn't compare it to medical school one bit. Each program requires a certain kind of intelligence. Am I intellectually or socially inferior to someone that chose the MD route? Of course not. Nursing has its own peculiarities. People fail to realize that intelligence comes in many forms. One may be musically a genius, one may kinetically be a genius and hone their talents towards the sports arena, others may be artistically gifted. No form of intelligence is inherently better than the next. Nursing intelligence and Medical intelligence are starkly different. I can kick ass and memorize and regurgitate facts (which is what a lot of medical school is), but not be able to apply what I have learned and integrate it into working knowledge that is situational (which is what nursing school does).

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Specializes in LTC, Geriatrics, MDS.

Im asked this almost every day and even by the nurses i work with. So annoying. I agree though i became a nurse because thats what i wanted to to. I like catching the MDs mistakes. I caught the pharmacist today, that was a new one.

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Funny, I was just asked this question at work a couple of days ago. A girl was asking me what my major is, and I told her nursing. She looked at me like I was joking, and even went as far to say "I've never really seen a guy nurse before..." Part of me wanted to slap her upside the head, but there must be something about doing no harm in nursing ethics...

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

I get this question all the time too, and I have through trial-and-error come up with my blanket response:

MD's are educated and focused on treating disease, I chose the nursing model as a practitioner because we are educated and focused on treating the patient and the patient's response to disease.

I've found most people say right away they'd rather have me focuses on them than a disease.

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Specializes in ED.

I LOVE your top ten!!!

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Haha I should use some of those comebacks whenever someone asks me that question again. Its not that I'm not an intelligent person, I just find the Nursing-Patient relationship a better fit for me than the MD-Patient relationship. Exactly! Some people feel as though Nursing school is not intellectually challenging as Med School, reality is they are both stressful.

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I hate that question so much, hahaha.

I'm an Asian female on a scholarship; I get that a lot.

I simply like the nursing approach to patient care over the medical one. Like I posted somewhere last week... I work as a patient escort and sometimes I go to doctor's appointments with my patients. It's annoying when their doctors prescribe 2 or 3 different blood pressure meds, thinking that the hypertension will magically go down without changing their diet/activity level.

Like really, this lady is sitting on her butt for almost the entire 24 hours of the day, eating McDonald's and sipping Diet Coke. Get a clue?

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Because being a doctor sucks! Being a nurse rocks.

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I've contemplated this question and my initial thought entering medicine was to go the doctor route. Being in the south, they still hire ADN's down here so I figured I would learn more in the 2 years to get my ADN degree than 2 years doing pre-req's for med school.

This is what I've come up with.

Doctors have TONS of responsibility and IMHO they don't get paid enough. The amount of time and responsibility they have to do their job was frightening.

ARNP's and PA's are almost interchangeable in the hospital setting. The pay is nice and you carry a lot of respect if that's what you so desire.

Nursing is busy and challenging in it's own right and if practiced, it can become it's own art. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want.

I think if you wanted the best dollar per value ratio. You'd become a two year RN. Work 2 years. Then go back to PA school. You would have fundamentals on both sides and be able to anticipate the needs of both doctors and nurses. Your knowledge base would be huge and it would be an advantage to those that graduate with PA degree and no previous employment.

Atleast that's my plan.

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If someone would support me in giving me the standard of living I have now and would pay for not only going to finish the undergraduate prerequisites but also pay for going to medical school then absolutely I'd do it and go. Heck, I'd rather be a doctor.

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Specializes in Ortho/Med/Surg.

My husband is a minority and a Doctor. Not MD - DC Doctor of chiropractic but still

So, he is applying to the nursing school after being a Doc for 5 years and having his own practice.

He told me that nursing has the most opportunity in this country and economic. He is the one who talk me into nursing too although I'm still thinking about medical school but you know, you can be NP after all

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I have the pleasure of working with doctors 5 days a week and ill tell you...it doesnt look like a job that I'd enjoy doing as much as being a nurse...The closest I'll come to being a doctor is pursuing a practioner curriculum

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